Similar Alexander the Great in Fact and, Indica, The life of Alexander the Great, The Anabasis of Alexan, Alexander romance | ||
The Metz Epitome is a late antiquity summary of earlier historical fragments and covers the conquests of Alexander the great between Hyrcania and southern India The only surviving manuscript was found in Metz, of which the name originates. The manuscript was destroyed during the Second World War, but there are two transcriptions of the original. The Epitome was part of the same manuscript as the so-called Liber de Morte Alexandri Magni Testamentumque (which may have been written by the same epitomator, as suggested by E. Baynham).
The sources of the anonymous author have much in common with the historian Cleitarchus, through the writings of Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius Rufus. Non-Cleitarchan elements in the text seem to reflect a certain Hebraic view concerning Alexander.[1][2]
The epitome paints a unique portrait of Alexander and includes some information not found elsewhere but in view of its late authorship and the few additional historical fact it offers, the value of the Metz Epitome lies in its interpretation of Alexander's career rather than as a source for it.[3]